


Gravity Is Not Responsible for People Falling in Love

by emilywritesfics



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ark!AU, Arranged Marriage, Discussion of Abortion, Doctor Clarke Griffin, F/M, Fluff, Guard Bellamy Blake, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Slow Burn, Smut, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:27:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26041156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilywritesfics/pseuds/emilywritesfics
Summary: "Mrs. Blake. It felt wrong to think of herself as a Mrs., and she'd never been anyone other than a Griffin. That's what she was now, though. She and Bellamy would be referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Blake: a couple, even though they barely knew each other."---Clarke didn't know Bellamy when she received the letter that he was her match a month before her 18th birthday. She still doesn't know him a month later at their wedding.Clarke isn't sure about Bellamy, but she does know: the matching system isn't often wrong.*Finalist for Best Ark AU in the BFWA 2020*
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 77
Kudos: 241
Collections: Bellarke Big Bang 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to thank [Liz](https://lizzybizzyo.tumblr.com/) for the amazing artwork that accompanies this fic, [Mobi](https://mobi-on-a-mission.tumblr.com/) for being an awesome beta and always hyping me up, and everyone on the Bellarke Big Bang discord server for too many things to even list.
> 
> **PLEASE READ THE TAGS**

* * *

Clarke picked at the beds of her fingernails. 

She was sitting next to her mother, who was unapologetically studying the only other person in the room: Bellamy Blake; the man Clarke was about to marry.

He was sitting alone on the other side of the room, studying the floor. He had been there since Clarke and her mother had arrived, and, other than an awkward greeting, the room had been silent ever since. 

Clarke had to admit, he was attractive. She could see the outline of muscle below his shirt, like most of the guard. Unlike most of the guard, his eyes seemed soft. She had seen him around the ark, both before and after she had found out they would be married, so she knew he was not dressed in his everyday clothes. He cleaned up nicely.

Clarke herself was wearing her best dress, and her mom had even put some makeup on her for the occasion. They had taken the morning off work to get Clarke ready. Just as they were about to leave their quarters, Abby had stopped Clarke.

"I need to give you this," her mom had said, dangling the necklace Clarke had seen her mother wear ever since she could remember. "Your Grandmother gave it to me the day I married your father. Your great great grandmother bought it when she was still on the ground."

"Thank you," Clarke had said as her mom went to put it on her.

Clarke felt the metal pressed against her collarbone. It was probably worth more than Bellamy's entire outfit. He was from one of the poorer stations, and Clarke didn't want him to feel like she thought she was better than him because of it. 

The door from the hallway swung open, revealing Clarke's father. Bellamy stood up, like he had when she and her mother had arrived, and offered his hand to her dad.

"You must be Bellamy," her dad said, shaking Bellamy's hand.

"Yes, sir," Bellamy said, answering with the right amount of confidence, "and you must be Mr. Griffin."

"I am," her father responded, "though, since you're about to become my son-in-law, you can call me Jake."

"Will do," Bellamy said. 

He sat back down, and her dad took the seat beside Clarke.

It was silent again, for a few minutes, before the door from the hallway swung open, revealing a teenage girl.

"This is my sister, Octavia," Bellamy said as she walked in. The confidence he had used to talk to her dad was no longer there. "This is Dr. Griffin, Clarke, and," he paused for a moment, "Jake."

Clarke shot her a smile.

"Hi," Octavia said. She sat down next to her brother.

"Nice to meet you," Clarke's dad said. He leaned forward to reach across the room and shake her hand.

Clarke, of course, knew Bellamy had a younger sister. It had been big news about 10 years earlier, though Clarke had only been 8 at the time. Their mother had been floated, and both Blake siblings were moved to the small group foster home.

Even if she hadn’t known, her mother had told her as soon as she saw the name in Clarke’s letter. Her mother hadn’t used it as a reason for Clarke to turn down the marriage, she said that she just wanted to make sure Clarke knew.

That was old news, but there were still people who thought Octavia was a waste of space, Bellamy was a traitor for keeping it a secret, and that both of them should have been locked up for their crimes. 

That was bullshit. It wasn't their fault.

The room fell into silence again, and Clarke went back to picking at her fingernails.

There was a knock on a different door on the opposite side of the room, which opened after the knocking finished.

"Hello," a lady said as she walked in. Clarke recognized her as one of the lawyers working for the council. "Griffins, Blakes," she said, gesturing to both sides of the room, "you can all come into this room."

The five of them filed in. Clarke and Bellamy were seated next to each other at a small table, while her parents and Octavia were directed to chairs against one wall of the room. The lawyer sat down on the other side of the table.

"The contract in front of you is your marriage contract," she said. "It is a legally binding document that can only be void in the case of death, abuse, infertility, or if you choose to do so after five years. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Clarke nodded.

The lawyer looked at Bellamy.

"Yes," he told her.

"Good," she said. She handed Bellamy a pen. "Please sign here, here, and here," she said, pointing to the lines, "and initial here and here."

He did, then handed the pen to Clarke. Their hands brushed against each other, sending a shock up Clarke’s arm. She quickly schooled her expression before she signed her name next to his and gave the pen back to the lawyer. 

“I’ll need one of you to witness the document,” the lawyer said to Clarke’s parents and Octavia.

Clarke’s dad came over and signed where the lawyer pointed. 

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the lawyer smiled. She stood up. "You three are now free to go," She said to Clarke's parents and Octavia before she turned back to Clarke and Bellamy. "You two can follow me."

She brought them into a different room where her secretary, who addressed them as Mr. and Mrs. Blake, asked them to follow her to their new quarters. 

Mrs. Blake. It felt wrong to think of herself as a Mrs., and she'd never been anyone other than a Griffin. That's what she was now, though. She and Bellamy would be referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Blake: a couple, even though they barely knew each other. 

They were brought to a unit in Alpha Station, on the opposite side from where Clarke's parents lived. They were given the keys, then left alone.

They stood next to each other in silence. Clarke could feel how close he was and she didn’t know if she should take a step back or try to bridge the gap between them; they were married, after all. She glanced over at him before looking around the apartment.

"I feel like we never really got to meet each other," he finally said.

"Me too," Clarke agreed, a wave of relief washing over her now that he had broken the silence. She turned towards him.

"So, uh, I'm Bellamy Blake," he said.

She felt a smile creep onto her face. "Clarke Griffin," she said. "Or, I guess it's Blake now. Clarke Blake." She turned back to the apartment. "It's spacious.”

"It's bigger than mine was,” Bellamy commented.

He walked to the bedroom and Clarke followed.

"What side of the bed do you sleep on?" Clarke asked, sitting down on the end of the bed to test its softness.

"I've never slept in a double bed," Bellamy admitted. "Left, I guess."

"Wow, we really are compatible," Clarke joked.

Bellamy cracked a smile.

Clarke stood up and walked into the bathroom to take a look. Bellamy followed. 

"Not bad," Clarke said. She turned and passed Bellamy on her way out of the bathroom, ignoring how close they had to be for her to manage to squeeze past in the cramped space. She sat back down on the bed and took a deep breath before she reached behind herself and unzipped her dress.

"What are you doing?" Bellamy asked, wide-eyed.

"Getting undressed," Clarke said, trying to force confidence into her voice.

"Why?" he asked.

"We're going to have sex," Clarke said. She wavered, "right?"

"What?" Bellamy asked.

"Don't we have to consummate the marriage?" Clarke asked. She knew they did, at least eventually. It was part of the contract, not that that part was ever enforced. Clarke had known that, and had made up her mind that she would just get it over with as soon as possible. Not to mention that, seeing as she had no prior experience, she was genuinely curious.

"Are you sure?" Bellamy asked. "Not that I don't want to," he stumbled over his words, "just that maybe you don't feel comfortable doing that with me and I don't want to force you into anything."

"This is what’s supposed to happen on our wedding night,” Clarke said.

“I mean, yeah, but we still don’t have to,” Bellamy said.

“I want to,” Clarke said. 

He raised his eyebrows at her but she just stared back, hoping that he would agree before she lost her nerve. 

“Okay,” he said after a moment.

Clarke stood up and turned off the light before letting her dress drop to the floor. She walked back to the bed. From the rustling of clothes and the vague outline of Bellamy from the light filtering in from the main room, he was taking off his clothes. Clarke reached behind herself to unhook her bra then slid her underwear off. After, she slid further onto the bed and lay back.

Clarke stared at the sliver of light on the ceiling the entire time. The only sound was that of their breathing, which got heavier as they progressed, and the occasional squeak of the bed. 

When it was over, Clarke slipped out of the bed and into the bathroom. She braced herself on the sink and stared at herself in the mirror for a few moments before using the toilet, brushing her teeth, and going back into the bedroom. 

Bellamy's clothes were no longer on the floor, and he was now wearing at least a shirt. She couldn't see much of him though, because he had his back to her and seemed to be asleep.

Clarke picked up her clothes, pulled on a pair of pyjamas, and went to bed.

* * *

The next weeks were much of the same. Clarke went to the med-bay to be trained as a doctor, and Bellamy went out into the Ark to perform his duties as a member of the guard. They were often on opposite schedules, so they mostly saw each other in passing. When they did have the occasional evening off together, they did try to get to know each other better. These evenings were few and far between, and sometimes Clarke felt she was closer with Octavia, who visited Bellamy weekly and enjoyed talking to Clarke, than to her own husband. 

She told her worries to Raven, who visited Clarke’s apartment every so often, but was also in and out of the med bay frequently due to a leg injury. 

“When I first found out that I would marry Wells, I felt closer to you than him,” Raven said. “You’re not quite his sister, but you were easy to get along with, and there wasn’t so much pressure.”

Clarke had been 15 when Wells had called her in a frenzy that he had gotten his match. Clarke had been so jealous that he had gotten his first. She had gone next door to his unit as soon as they hung up, and they had talked for hours about what they thought of it, and what Wells would say to Raven the next day at school. Clarke only went home when her dad had come looking for her because it was well past when she should have been in bed.

Raven had started sitting with them at lunch, and Clarke found it easy to connect with Raven almost from the beginning. Wells, not so much. He had complained that he never knew what to say to her and he was always worried that he would say something wrong. Eventually he had gotten over his fears, and by that time Clarke and Raven were already good friends.

“Our relationship got easier,” Raven continued, “and look at us now.”

“Wells is an open book,” Clarke brushed her off.

“Easy for you to say,” Raven snorted. “You two have been friends since before you were walking. Not to mention that he’s the chancellor’s son. Do you know how much pressure there was- _is_ -for our marriage to be perfect?”

“Everyone wants their marriage to be perfect, Raven,” Clarke said.

“Wells and I are in the limelight,” Raven said, “it’s not the same. But anyways that’s not the point. You and Bellamy will be fine. Wells and I haven’t been married for _that_ long and we're doing great.”

“You’ve known that you were going to marry Wells for almost four years now,” Clarke pointed out, “I got the letter that I had been matched less than a month before the wedding.”

“That further proves my point. By the time you and Bellamy have known for three and a half years, you’ll be just as in love as Wells and I are.”

“Bellamy’s never been anything but nice to me,” Clarke said, “but I still can’t imagine being with him in three and a half years, let alone the rest of my life with him. I can probably count the things I know about him on my hands.”

“If you want to know more about him, ask,” Raven said.

“I don’t even know what to ask,” Clarke grumbled.

“These things take time,” Raven said. “I bet that by the time you two have been married for six months you’ll be head over heels for each other.”

Clarke raised her eyebrows at the statement.

“The matching system isn’t often wrong,” Raven shrugged. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the nice comments on the first chapter! It made my day every time I got an email about a new comment.  
> Anyways, without further ado, here's chapter 2 :)

One night, a month and a half into their marriage, Clarke was already sitting in bed, looking through some medical textbooks in the Ark's database, when Bellamy got home from a shift in the guard. Clarke heard him go around the kitchen, and grab himself some of the salad Clarke had left him. After a few minutes, he tiptoed into the bedroom.

"Hey," Clarke said.

"Hey," Bellamy said, "thanks for the salad."

"No problem.”

Bellamy grabbed his pyjamas and went into the bathroom. When he came out, Clarke turned off her tablet.

"Night," Bellamy said as he climbed into bed.

"Night.”

* * *

Clarke jolted awake to footsteps hurrying around the bed and into the bathroom. It took her until she heard the sounds of Bellamy vomiting for Clarke to realize what was going on. She looked into the bathroom and saw Bellamy leaning over the toilet. Instincts taking over, Clarke hurried to grab a cup from the kitchen, bring it into the bathroom, and fill it with water.

When Bellamy seemed to be done vomiting, she handed him the cup of water."This is to wash out your mouth.”

As he rinsed his mouth, Clarke got a good look at Bellamy. Objectively, he looked horrible. There were bags under his eyes and his face was flushed. Once he finished, Clarke pressed the back of her hand to Bellamy’s forehead. He tensed at the touch. As Clarke had expected, his temperature seemed higher than normal. 

"Stay here," she instructed.

Clarke turned back to the bedroom, following what she had learned in her years of medical training. She grabbed her first aid kit from under the bed and brought it into the bathroom.

"Open up," Clarke said once she had grabbed the thermometer.

Bellamy opened his mouth and Clarke stuck the thermometer under his tongue.

"Now close.”

"Th-orry for waking you," Bellamy said.

"No talking or you'll mess up the thermometer," Clarke said. 

Bellamy closed his mouth.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, but just nod or shake your head, okay?" Clarke said.

Bellamy nodded.

"Do you feel sick?" Clarke asked.

Bellamy nodded.

"Did you feel sick before you went to bed?"

It was a moment before Bellamy shrugged.

"How do you not know how you felt before you went to bed?" Clarke asked. "No talking," she added.

The thermometer in his mouth beeped. Clarke pulled it out and read it. 

"That's definitely a fever.”

"Sorry for waking you," Bellamy said.

"You're sick," Clarke brushed it off. "You don't have to apologize." 

Bellamy looked like he was about to say something when he turned back to the toilet and started vomiting again.

Clarke put a tentative hand on his back.

When he finished, Clarke picked up the empty garbage can and handed it to Bellamy.

"You need to go to bed,” she instructed. “Use this if you need to vomit."

"Thanks." Bellamy took the garbage can.

As he got into bed, Clarke opened the closet and pulled out one of Bellamy's sweaters.

"Put this on." She handed it to him and he pulled it over his head. She ran back into the bathroom and grabbed his cup of water. "Here's your water," she placed it on his bedside table, "if you need anything, promise you'll wake me up."

"Clarke..."

"You're sick and I am a doctor," Clarke said. "And your wife," she added as an afterthought.

"Okay," Bellamy agreed.

They got back into bed. Clarke tried to go back to sleep, but she kept glancing over at Bellamy to make sure that he was okay. He looked pale, and his curls were sticking to his forehead. He was still breathing, though so he would be alright. Eventually she heard his breathing even out, and soon after she herself fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Bellamy tried to get out of bed to go to work, but Clarke quickly talked him out of it.

After Bellamy called in sick, he bid Clarke goodbye and went back to bed. Clarke used her tablet to call her mom to tell her she couldn't come in.

"Bellamy's sick," Clarke said, "I don't want to leave him here alone all day."

"Does he need to come to the med-bay?" her mom asked.

"No, not right now. I think he just has a stomach flu."

"Alright," her mom said, "I'll see you."

After hanging up, Clarke went to look at what food they had in the kitchen. When she was younger and had gotten sick, her dad had always made her chicken noodle soup. She knew that she didn’t have to make Bellamy the soup, but it felt right that she should. 

When she didn’t find the ingredients that she needed, Clarke decided to walk down to the marketplace to pick them up.

She peeked back into the bedroom to tell Bellamy she would be out for a few minutes, but she stopped when she saw he had already fallen back asleep. He was splayed out on his back, and with the way his shirt was riding up, Clarke could see a lot more of him than usual. She blushed and looked away as she tiptoed to the closet to grab herself some clothes and change, then slipped out of the unit and into the hallway. 

Walking down the hallways to the marketplace, most of the people Clarke saw were heading to work or school. To get to the marketplace, Clarke had to take a different route than the one she took to get to the med-bay, so she didn't recognize many people, but she smiled at the ones she did know.

Once she got to the marketplace, Clarke spotted Miller. They had grown up together on Alpha station, and she knew that he was now friends with Bellamy since they were often partners while working.

He was standing with an older guard that Clarke didn’t know.

"Hey," Clarke greeted him.

"Hey," Miller turned to her. "Is Blake okay? They told me he wasn't coming in today. That’s why I’m with Shephard."

The other guard nodded at Clarke. Clarke smiled back.

"He's sick," Clarke said, "but if he has what I think he does, he'll be back to work by the end of the week."

"That's good to hear," Miller nodded. "Are you going to work? This is an odd way to get to the med-bay."

"I'm taking the day off," Clarke studied the products set up on the tables around the hall. "I didn't want to leave Bellamy alone, but I need some ingredients for soup."

Miller told Shephard to radio him if he needed anything, before leaving him and joining Clarke as she walked past a few more tables. "Bellamy's actually letting you take care of him?" 

"I didn't think he'd have any objections to it," Clarke said straight to Miller. "He was asleep when I left, though."

"He'll definitely have a few objections, but, seeing as you've already taken the day off, there's not a lot he can do."

"Should I not have done that?" Clarke asked, her smile fading. She had never even considered that Bellamy might not want her to take care of him.

"You haven't done anything wrong," Miller assured, "Bellamy's just difficult sometimes."

"Oh.” Clarke wasn’t sure that made her feel better. 

"Don't worry about it," Miller said, "he'll appreciate your efforts."

"Hopefully. How's Bryan?" He and Miller were dating, and had been since Bryan, who was a grade below Clarke and Miller, had moved to the fifth class when he was fifteen. Clarke hadn’t seen him in a few months, since he had started his last year of school and gotten busy with that and his internship, and Clarke had started her first year at the med-bay full time and had found out that she had a match. They had never been particularly close, but he was Miller’s boyfriend so they were on friendly terms. 

"He's good," Miller told her.

"He's working on farm station?" Clarke picked up a couple of tomatoes and compared them.

"Yeah," Miller said, "he loves it."

Clarke put one of the tomatoes down and paid for the other. "Has he met Bellamy?" She hung the bag with the tomato on her arm.

"I think so," Miller said.

"You two should visit us some time," Clarke examined the celery before picking up a couple.

"Has Bellamy met any of your friends?" Miller asked as Clarke paid for the celery. "Have you met any of his?"

She put the celery in with the tomato. "We're both friends with you." 

"That doesn't count.”

"Fine.” Clarke sighed. “No and no. But we've only been married for a month and a half."

"Are you planning on introducing them any time soon?"

"Eventually," Clarke said, "and you didn't say if you would come visit."

"Of course I will," Miller said, "I'll talk to Bryan, then talk to Bellamy."

"Sounds good." Clarke smiled.

Miller got a call on his radio and had to leave, so Clarke continued through the marketplace on her own to find the rest of her groceries.

Clarke arrived back at their unit with an armful of groceries. 

“Clarke?” Bellamy looked over from his spot in the armchair.

"I needed some groceries." Clarke dropped her armload onto the counter.

"Shouldn't you be at work?" Bellamy asked, getting up off of the armchair and putting down his tablet.

Clarke turned around to face him. "I didn't want you to be here alone so I took the day off.” She had thought about what Miller had told her, and she felt like it was best that she address it directly.

"Clarke-" Bellamy started.

"Miller told me you wouldn't be happy but I've already done it so there's nothing you can do about it now."

"You really-" Bellamy tried again.

"No," Clarke said. "You are sick, and you need to rest, and I'm going to make soup for you, and you're not going to complain."

There was a moment of silence where they both just stared at each other. 

"Thanks," Bellamy finally said. He looked defeated, but Clarke refused to feel bad about trying to take care of him,

"You're welcome," Clarke said. "Now go sit down and get some rest."

Bellamy went back to sitting in the armchair.

Clarke put the groceries away, but when she finished it was still too early to start making soup. She hesitated for a moment, considering what she should do. Bellamy was sitting in the living room with his tablet, and on one hand she could go sit with him, but on the other hand she didn’t really want to interrupt whatever he was doing. It would seem odd if she sat in the kitchen or their bedroom for an hour, and he would definitely notice. Clarke internally told herself to stop overthinking everything before picking up a kitchen chair and sitting next to Bellamy.

"Aren't you making soup?" Bellamy asked.

"I want to wait another hour so it's done around lunch," Clarke replied.

There was a moment of silence.

"Do you want to watch something?" Bellamy asked, gesturing to the projector.

"Sure," Clarke said. She got up off her chair and grabbed the remote off of a shelf. "What do you usually watch?" Clarke asked, sitting back down.

"I've never really watched much," Bellamy said, ducking his head and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, um…” She mentally scolded herself for not knowing that.

"Yeah," Bellamy said, "we couldn't really afford to when I lived with my mom, and in the foster homes they mostly played cartoons for the kids. After I got my own place, I usually had other things to do."

"There are some movies," Clarke suggested.

They spent a while looking through the movies in the Ark's database before they settled on one about a boy trying to film a movie.

About halfway through, Bellamy had to leave to vomit, but other than that they sat in silence together, watching the movie. 

After it had finished, Clarke got up to start making the soup.

Bellamy started to push himself up off the armchair, a pained expression on his face from the exertion. 

"No, you need to rest," Clarke told him.

He let himself fall back into the chair.

A number of times while Clarke was trying to cook, Bellamy got up and tried to help her, and each time he did, Clarke told him to go sit back down. She understood not wanting to feel useless, but he was sick, and she wasn’t trying to get him to relax because she felt bad for him. He needed to rest, and her medical opinion was that rest and relaxation would help him feel better. Not to mention that Clarke didn’t want to get sick herself.

"Have you ever had someone take care of you?!" Clarke finally exclaimed.

"No, not really," Bellamy said.

Clarke was taken aback.

"There were always more important things for people to do," Bellamy added at the look on Clarke's face.

"Oh, um," Clarke started, trying to find a way to respond.

"I know that you grew up sheltered, Clarke," Bellamy said. "Your childhood was way better than mine, you don't have to pretend otherwise."

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't want you to think that I think I'm better than you for who my parents are, or how I grew up," Clarke said quietly.

"I know you're not like that," Bellamy said. "If you were, you would be with some senator's son, or maybe your friend, the chancellor's son, if he hadn’t married Raven. But you're not, you married me because we got matched by the Ark's algorithm, just like everyone else."

There was a pause before Clarke broke the silence.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you," Bellamy said, "it's nice to be taken care of."

Clarke glanced over her shoulder to see him smiling fondly at her.

"You're sick." Clarke brushed him off, as she felt a blush creep onto her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love hearing what you guys think so far!
> 
> As always, you can visit me on tumblr [here!](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just found out that this fic was nominated for the Bellarke Fanfiction Writers Awards for Best Ark AU!?! I have no idea who nominated me, but whoever you are, you're too sweet!

After that, they started working harder on their relationship. Clarke still had a lot more to learn about him, but now she felt like they were becoming friends, at least. They started trying to coordinate work schedules so they'd have more time together. It didn't always work out, but they usually got three or four nights a week together. 

On one of those evenings, Clarke made a bowl of popcorn and dragged one of the kitchen chairs across from the tv projection. Bellamy walked out of the bedroom.

"You can have the armchair," Bellamy said when he saw her with the metal kitchen chair.

"I don't mind," Clarke said.

"No, really, you take the chair," Bellamy said.

"You had work today, you're probably exhausted," Clarke countered.

"I'm fine," Bellamy insisted.

Clarke sighed and looked over at the armchair.

"We need to get a couch," she said.

So, on their next day off, Bellamy and Clarke found themselves in the marketplace looking for a couch.

It took them an hour and a half, but they narrowed down their decision to two couches, one purple and the other red.

“Do you want to try them again?” Bellamy asked.

They walked back through the marketplace to try out the purple and red couches.

The red one was first. They sat down and started shifting around, testing its comfortability. Clarke looked over at Bellamy and hesitated for a moment before she leaned against his shoulder and curled her legs up beside her. Bellamy stilled. 

Clarke felt like maybe she shouldn’t have done that, but it was too late now. Realistically, she knew that eventually they would probably sit on whichever couch they got together like they were now, all cuddled up. And she had to admit that she liked being this close to him and leaning up against him. Clarke just hoped that Bellamy didn’t mind.

They sat like that for a moment before Clarke put her feet back down and sat up.

“Let’s try the purple one,” she said.

Bellamy nodded.

They walked a bit further down the marketplace and sat on the purple couch. This time Clarke didn’t hesitate before leaning against Bellamy’s shoulder and bringing her feet up beside her. She had done it on the red couch so she had to do it on this one too. Tentatively, Bellamy put his arm around her, and Clarke’s heart fluttered. They stayed like that for a moment before Clarke once again put her feet down and sat up.

“I like the red couch better,” Clarke said. She looked at Bellamy and saw that his face was red. She had to quickly look away, lest he see the blush creeping onto her face at the thought of her affecting him that much

They started back towards the red couch when Bellamy ran into one of his friends from the guard.

“Hey Murphy.”

“Oh, hey Blake,” 

“This is my wife, Clarke,” Bellamy introduced. “Clarke, this is Murphy, we work together.”

Clarke knew him already, but she still greeted him with a polite hello. He had been a year behind her in school. He had kept to himself and had seemed to be a bit of a troublemaker. Not really the type to become a guard, but, then again, Clarke had never talked to him.

“What are you two lovebirds doing here?” Murphy teased Bellamy.

“We’re buying a couch,” Bellamy said, “what about you?”

“I had nothing better to do than come here.”

“If you’re looking for something to do we could probably use some help getting the couch back to our unit,” Bellamy said.

Murphy shrugged. “I have nothing better to do.”

They walked back to the vendor who had the red couch. Clarke started rustling through her bag to find her credit-card while they waited for the vendor to finish ringing up someone. 

“I got it,” Bellamy said. 

“You don’t have to,” Clarke said, still looking in her bag.

“Don’t you guys share credits?” Murphy asked.

“I guess we do,” Clarke said. She closed her bag.

Bellamy paid for the couch, and the three of them went to pick it up. 

After struggling for about ten metres, Murphy spoke up.

“Uh, no offence Griffin,” he said, “but I think it’ll be easier with just Blake and I.”

Clarke ended up just following them back. She felt a little bad that she wasn’t helping, but it did give her the opportunity to watch Bellamy carry the couch. If she was being honest, seeing the way his shirt showed off the muscles in his arms made her face heat up.

* * *

Clarke started showing Bellamy all of the shows and movies she loved, and when she found out that Bellamy, who loved reading, had never been able to read a real, physical book, she borrowed one from her dad. The look on his face when she gave it to him and the hug she received made her feel warm inside. 

He showed her his favourite book on Greek and Roman mythology and managed to talk for an hour and a half about it. Clarke just listened and smiled. 

Soon after, Abby found Clarke alone, organizing some blood samples. 

"Clarke," Abby said.

"Hi, Mom.”

Abby came up beside her. "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about, but I haven't been able to get you alone.”

"What is it?" Clarke asked slowly.

"I just wanted to make sure that you and Bellamy are taking the proper precautions to prevent an unwanted pregnancy," Abby said.

"That's not an issue," Clarke said.

“Oh,” Abby said, “I assumed you would have told me if you were trying for a baby.”

“No,” Clarke said, “I don’t want to have a baby any time soon.”

"I know you're a smart young woman but-"

"You don't have to worry about it," Clarke said quickly, "Bellamy and I aren't... doing anything."

"I thought you two were getting along," Abby said.

"We are," Clarke said, "but... can we not talk about this?"

"There's nothing to be embarrassed of," Abby said, "I'm a doctor, I've heard it all."

"So am I, but you're my mom." Clarke shifted uncomfortably.

"You're in training," Abby corrected.

"Whatever I am, there's nothing to be worried about," Clarke said. At her mother's hesitation, Clarke added, "if I need anything, I'll talk to Jackson."

"Good."

Clarke put the samples she had been organizing back into the basket they had come from. She picked up the basket and pushed through the doors to the front desk of the med-bay so she could get them to the lab. When she walked through the door, she saw Raven standing at the front desk, looking uneasy. That was odd. Clarke did most of Raven’s appointments, and she definitely would have noticed if Raven’s name had been on the schedule for the day.

“Hey Raven,” Clarke said.

“Oh, hey,” Raven said, wrapping her cardigan tighter around herself.

“Do you have an appointment today?” Clarke asked, “I don’t remember seeing one.”

“No,” Raven said, “no appointment.” She shifted from her bad leg onto her good one, “my knee has just been acting up, so I thought that I would get it checked out.”

“I think I have time to look at it before my next appointment,” Clarke said.

“No, it’s okay, Jackson already looked at it,” Raven said quickly. “I didn’t want to bother you so I just asked for whoever could take me.”

“Oh,” Clarke said, “well I hope it feels better.”

“Thanks,” Raven said, “me too.”

* * *

One day, Clarke was in the back room of the med-bay. She had just arrived and was hanging up her bag so she could grab whatever she and James, the other intern, had to do next, when Abby walked in.

“Oh, Clarke, I was just looking for you,” She said, “there’s been a change of plans for today. I need you to go with Jackson to the school to help him to the student’s assessments.”

“Oh,” Clarke said, surprised. She usually wouldn’t be allowed to help with the student’s assessment because she was too close in age to some of them. 

“We can’t spare anyone else,” Abby said, answering Clarke’s unspoken question.

“Alright, what do I need to take?”

“Jackson has a cart with everything the two of you should need.”

“I’ll go find him then.”

Clarke spent the day taking blood, and asking each student a set of questions, filling out their answers and taking notes on their behaviour. The younger kids weren’t used to it yet, but the kids in the older grades were used to having a checkup every year, being asked essentially the same questions and giving essentially the same answers. Some took it seriously, some didn’t—that’s why Clarke had to take notes, to see who might be giving inaccurate information—but they all knew why it was happening: they were being tested to be matched.

She and Jackson got through the first three of the five classes in the school before lunch. The younger kids were easier to test, Clarke found. Before they were about twelve, the information the matching system used was mostly genetic. Clarke didn’t have to ask a lot of questions and they weren’t interested in wasting her time yet.

They ate in the cafeteria with all of the students and teachers. Clarke was walking over to an empty table at the back when Octavia waved her.

“Clarke, come sit with us!”

Clarke changed her course and went to sit at the empty spot at Octavia’s table. There were three other kids sitting with her, two boys and a girl. One of the boys was Monty Green, who was only two years younger than Clarke. The other two were part of the group that had advanced to the fifth class just that year, so she had never been in class with them, and, therefore, didn’t really know them.

“Hey,” Clarke said to Octavia as she sat down.

“Hi,” Octavia said, “I didn’t know that you were going to be the one coming to do our check-ups.”

“I didn’t either until this morning,” Clarke said. 

“Is that what they’re doing today?” the boy Clarke didn’t know, who had a pair of safety goggles hanging from his neck, asked, “I was wondering why nobody’s at their internship.”

“What did you think was going on?” the other girl at the table laughed.

“Hey!” The boy frowned.

“So,” Clarke said, changing the subject, “Octavia, you haven’t come by this week. Bellamy misses you.”

“Did he say that?” Octavia asked.

“No,” Clarke said, “but I know he does.”

“Are you Bellamy’s wife?” the boy with the goggles asked.

“Oh,” Octavia exclaimed, “sorry.” she pointed around the table. “This is Clarke Blake, my brother’s wife. This is Jasper Jordan, Monty Green, and Harper McIntyre.”

They all greeted each other.

“I’ve been really busy,” Octavia sighed, turning back to Clarke. “We’re all in our internships and it’s a lot of work.”

“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” Clarke said fondly, “my internship was so much work. It still is, since I’m technically still an intern. My mom is head doctor, which I’m sure made it worse.”

The rest of the table grimaced.

“That’s hard,” Monty said.

“What are you guys interning in?” Clarke asked.

“You know I’m in the guard,” Octavia said, “Jasper’s with the botanists, Monty’s with the engineers, and Harper’s in teaching.”

“That’s great,” Clarke said, “how are you liking them?”

“It’s pretty cool.” Jasper shrugged. “As long as I wear my safety goggles they let me do pretty much anything.”

“I haven’t gotten a lot of experience but everything the engineers do is so interesting,” Monty told her. “Right now I’m helping with automated fertilization.”

“From what my dad says, I think you guys mostly do small stuff during your internship,” Clarke said.

“Your dad?” Monty asked.

“Jake Griffin,” Clarke said.

“Oh, I’ve met him,” Monty said.

“What about you?” Clarke asked Harper, “how’s your internship?”

“It’s alright.” Harper shrugged. “I have to be with the first class for now but I want to be in the third class eventually.” 

“Don’t worry, you’ll get there,” Clarke said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clarke has _feelings_ about Bellamy, Raven's in the med bay? and we met some new (maybe important ;)) characters.   
> What happens next? tune in later to find out
> 
> (Also I'd love to hear what you think, your comments are all amazing and I love all of them)  
> As always, you can find me on tumblr, [here!](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved the comments I got on the last chapter. I swear I have the sweetest readers.
> 
> WARNING: This is the chapter that talks about abortions. 
> 
> Also, I hope this is clear in the story, but the first part of this chapter is Bellamy POV

On Friday evening, Bellamy watched as Clarke hurried around their little apartment, trying to make everything perfect for when Bryan, Miller, Raven, and Wells arrived. He had given up on helping her after she shot him down for the seventh time. He still felt a little weird about not helping her, but they had been married long enough that Bellamy realized that this was just who she was.

"Clarke, you already know them," Bellamy said, "you don't have to try to impress them."

"This is my first time hosting a dinner party. I just want it to go well."

“They’re our friends; they don’t care. And they’ve probably never been to a dinner party before anyways.”

“Miller and Wells have. Miller’s dad has been head of the guard for years, and Wells’ dad has been Chancellor for almost as long, so they were dragged to all the fancy parties, same as me.”

“Then they know how dumb they are.”

Clarke stopped what she was doing and turned to him.

“You think this is dumb?” she asked, her face falling.

“No,” Bellamy quickly said, his eyes going wide, “that’s not what I meant. I just think that just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we have to have a stuffy dinner party. We can still have fun.”

“Dinner parties can be fun,” Clarke huffed.

“When have you ever been to a fun dinner party?” Bellamy asked.

“Three years ago,” Clarke said. “I will admit, someone who definitely isn’t Miller put moonshine in the punch, so everyone was drunk, but, still, it was fun.”

“Wow,” Bellamy said, “Miller’s more of a hardass than I thought.”

“You have no idea,” Clarke said.

There was a knock on the door, and Clarke hurried over to answer it.

"Hi!" Clarke greeted, moving to the side to let Miller and Bryan into their unit.

They greeted her and Bellamy as they walked in. It wasn't hard to tell that they had dressed up, as had he and Clarke. They were both wearing button-up shirts, and, for some reason, Bryan was holding a bowl.

"We brought you a salad," he suddenly said, handing the bowl to Clarke.

"Thank you," Clarke said.

"We weren't really sure what to bring," Bryan said, running a hand through his hair, "that's what my mom gave me."

"Don't worry," Bellamy said, "Clarke and I have already discussed how dumb stuffy dinner parties are."

Miller and Bryan walked to the couches.

"Well, you're the only person here over twenty," Miller teased, sitting down, "so I think it's mostly up to you if this party is going to be stuffy or not. We're just kids." He gestured to himself, Bryan and Clarke.

Clarke laughed a bit at that. Miller was right though. Bryan was 17 while Miller and Clarke were 18. Bellamy was 21, the eldest of them all. Even when Wells and Raven arrived, they were 19 and almost 19. 

Bryan sat down next to Miller, who slung his arm over Bryan’s shoulder. Clarke sat across from them. 

"I heard that you know how to get a party started," Bellamy said, sitting next to Clarke and wrapping his arm around her waist. 

Miller raised his eyebrows.

"I told him about the time you spiked the punch at Kane's gala when we were fifteen," Clarke said.

"That was a good party," Miller said, nodding.

"Was it worth what your dad did to you after?" Clarke asked.

"He actually didn't do anything," Miller said, "I think he knew, but if he had acknowledged that he knew that I did it he would have had to charge me because I got a whole bunch of kids drunk."

There was another knock on the door and, once again, Clarke got up to answer it.

"Hi!" Clarke wrapped her arms around Raven and only pulled away to wrap them around Wells.

"How have you two been?" Clarke asked, taking the punch bowl that Wells was holding and putting it on the table. "I see Raven often but it feels like I haven't seen you in forever."

"My job is always crazy," Wells said.

"You should be used to it by now," Raven laughed.

They walked farther into the apartment.

"'Sup Reyes," Miller said.

"Hey Nate," Raven said, "Bryan."

Bryan waved.

"How have you been?" Raven walked over.

"Better than you, I think," Miller said, gesturing to Raven's leg, which was wrapped in a brace.

"You wish," Raven snorted, though she did lean against Wells.

The kitchen timer went off and Clarke jumped up.

She hurried into the kitchen, and Bellamy heard her pull the roast out of the oven before she yelled “dinner’s ready.”

They all filed into the kitchen to dish up before sitting at the table. 

"How's your sister?" Wells asked Bellamy after everyone had sat down.

"She's good," Bellamy said, "do you know her?"

"Her name comes up in the files more than most," Wells said.

"What? Why?"

"It's nothing bad," Wells said, "she's a ward of the state, and she's still active in the matching database, but everyone her age is. Mostly, the database ends up flagging her name because, you know, she shouldn't exist."

"What do you mean, she shouldn't exist," Bellamy said, seeing red. He had spent almost half of his life hiding his sister’s existence, and the rest of it defending her. She had just been a kid, still was, and it wasn’t her fault that she had been born a second child. 

"Bellamy," Clarke said, and he realized that he had tightened his grip on his cutlery.

The whole table went quiet. Bellamy refused to back down, even if Wells was Clarke’s oldest friend.

"Oh," Wells said, realizing what he had said. “She just has no files from the first few years of her life, so the database thinks we’ve lost them.”

The table was silent again. Bellamy loosened his grip on his cutlery. 

“Do you think this year’s round of matches will come out soon?” Clarke asked, changing the subject.

“They’re supposed to be ready next week, but that department is rarely ever on time so it’s probably closer to two or three weeks before they start sending out the matches,” Wells said.

“I wonder who it’s going to be this year,” Clarke said.

“They think this year we’re going to get a lot,” Wells said, “people used to get matched by the time they made it to their last year of class 5, but these past few years not many people have been getting matched so people are getting older before they’re matched.”

“How many is a lot?” Bryan asked. “Ten?”

Clarke and Bellamy had been one of six couples matched up that past year. They had actually been a special case. Normally all of the matches came out at once near the beginning of the year, but they had been matched in September.

“Apparently it could be as many as fifteen,” Wells said.

There were some surprised murmurs. 

“That would be, what, half of the fifth class?” Bellamy asked.

“That doesn’t even include Zoe and I,” Bryan said, “we’ve opted-out.”

“My guess is that it’ll be about fifteen people from class 5, maybe six or seven people who’ve graduated, and potentially one or two from the fourth class,” Wells said, “but that’s just my personal guess.”

“So, um,” Raven said after dinner. She grabbed Wells’ hand, “we have something to tell you guys.”

Everyone waited for her to continue.

“I’m pregnant,” Raven said, a smile breaking out on her face.

“Congratulations!” Clarke got up to hug Raven.

Miller, Bryan and Bellamy voiced their congratulations.

Clarke pulled away from Raven and hugged Wells.

“Wait,” Clarke said, pulling away, “how did I not know?”

"I told Jackson not to tell you,” Raven said.

“Clever.” Clarke laughed. “I can’t believe you managed to hide it from me.”

“I’ve only known for a week.” Raven shrugged.

“How far along are you?” Bryan asked.

“Seven weeks,” Raven said.

“Your dad must be so excited!” Clarke said to Wells. She was all but jumping up and down in excitement.

“He’s been over the moon,” Wells laughed. “Now that we’ve told you he can finally tell your parents.”

* * *

Clarke was cleaning one of the empty exam rooms the next day, when her mom came over to her.

"You and Bellamy need to come over for dinner soon.” She had been mentioning that Clarke and Bellamy should have dinner with them for the entire few months they had been married. She hadn't mentioned anything about it in a while, but Clarke had been waiting for her mother to bring it up again. Clarke had always brushed her mother off. 

"I'll talk to Bellamy about what days work for him," Clarke said.

"Are you two talking now?" her mom asked.

"We're married, Mom," Clarke said, "we've been talking this whole time."

"It didn't seem like it.”

Clarke loved her mother, she really did, but sometimes she acted like a, well, mother.

"We've just gotten to know each other better, that's all.”

* * *

"Raven!” Clarke called into the waiting room.

Raven stood up and followed Clarke into the back.

“How are you?” Clarke asked

“Good. Kind of nauseous, but I’ve heard that’s normal.”

Clarke sent her a reassuring smile. “It’s one hundred percent normal.” She led them into an exam room and motioned for Raven to sit down on the exam table before she sat down and flipped open the chart.

After she answered a few of Raven’s questions, Clarke slipped out to grab the ultrasound machine. 

“Excited to see your baby for the first time?” she asked, rolling the machine into the exam room.

“So excited,” Raven said. “I just wish Wells could be here.”

“He’ll see the baby soon,” Clarke reassured as she plugged in the machine.

Raven pulled up her shirt so Clarke could squirt some jelly on it. Clarke thought she looked further along than seven and a half weeks, but she didn’t have a lot of experience in obstetrics.

Clarke took the ultrasound wand and started moving it around Raven’s belly, trying to get a good angle of the baby. She looked at the screen and stopped in her tracks. Either something was  _ very _ wrong, or Clarke was seeing two fetuses. 

“Is something wrong?” Raven asked after Clarke had been staring at the screen for a few moments.

“I, um, need to go get my mother,” Clarke said. She put down the ultrasound wand and hurried out of the room. 

She found her mother at the reception desk.

“I need you to come check something,” Clarke said to her mother. 

Abby followed her into the back, “what’s wrong?”

“I’m doing Raven’s ultrasound, and I think I see more than one baby,” Clarke said.

They arrived at the exam room, and Clarke knocked before opening the door and letting her mother in.

“What’s going on?” Raven asked.

“Clarke needed me to double-check something,” Abby said, picking up the ultrasound wand and putting it on Raven’s exposed stomach. She moved it around before she got a good image. After studying it for a moment, she turned back to Clarke. “You were right.” She turned to Raven. “Raven, you’re having twins.”

“Twins?”

“There are two babies,” Abby said, pointing them out on the screen. “They’re identical twins.”

“What does this mean?” Raven asked. “I’m only allowed one baby.”

“There have never been twins on the Ark,” Abby said. “We have to tell the council; they will decide what happens.”

“Are they going to float me?” Raven asked, the fear apparent in her voice.

“I won’t let that happen,” Abby said. “This isn’t your fault. Not like if you had a baby and then had a second child.”

“Do you want me to get Wells?” Clarke asked.

Raven nodded, looking like she was on the verge of tears, so Clarke left her and Abby alone to continue the conversation while Clarke called Wells. 

Clarke didn’t envy the position Raven was in, for more than one reason. First of all, Clarke definitely wasn’t ready to have a baby yet, but second, if she did want a baby and found out she was pregnant, just to find out that the council might not let her keep the babies, she would be devastated. 

The next day, Abby was waiting for Clarke when she walked into the med-bay. She didn’t look happy.

“The council says that the laws are clear, and that we have to terminate one of the fetuses.”

Clarke’s heart sank.

“Is there anything we can do?” Clarke asked.

Abby nodded solemnly. “We’re going to petition the council to amend the law.” 

Clarke spent the evening looking through all of the records in the ark database. She and her mother wanted to build as strong a case as possible for why Raven should be able to keep both her babies. They didn’t think that the council would try to float her, but they might make her terminate the pregnancy or give up one of the babies. 

Bellamy didn’t ask what Clarke was doing until late that night. She probably should have been in bed by that point, but she still had so many records to go through. 

“What’re you researching?” Bellamy asked from beside her in bed. “You’ve been on your tablet since you got home from work.”

“I’m not really supposed to tell you,” Clarke said. “Confidentiality and all that.”

“Oh. I understand,” Bellamy said.

“It’s probably going to be out there soon anyways,” Clarke sighed. It was hard keeping a secret from him. She looked over at him. “Just promise you won’t say you heard it from me before it’s public knowledge?”

“Of course,” Bellamy said.

“Raven’s having twins,” Clarke said.

There was a pause.

“Oh,” Bellamy finally said.

“The council says that we have to terminate one of the fetuses,” Clarke told him, “so my mother and I are petitioning the council to amend the law. You can’t say anything about Raven being the patient, that’s not public knowledge.”

“I won’t,” Bellamy promised. “How’s Raven?”

“Shocked, mostly,” Clarke said, “and scared. So’s Wells.”

“I know the feeling,” Bellamy said, looking down at his lap.

“From what happened to your mom?” Clarke asked hesitantly.

Bellamy nodded.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Clarke said. “Not having parents must have been…”

“I got used to it,” Bellamy shrugged. “And at least I had my mom for a while. Octavia was so young, I don’t even know if she remembers our mother.”

“She had you,” Clarke said. “She still does.”

“Yeah, but I’m not our mom.”

“You’re not your mom, but you’re a good big brother,” Clarke said. “Octavia is lucky to have you.”

Bellamy looked over at her. “Thanks,” he smiled softly. “You should stop researching and go to sleep.”

“But I-”

“You’ll do better research when you’re well-rested,” Bellamy pointed out.

“Okay,” Clarke sighed. She turned off her tablet and lay down in bed. “Goodnight, Bellamy.”

“Goodnight, Clarke.”

Clarke straightened the hem of her shirt as she waited outside the council chambers with her mother. Though she had seen some council meetings when she had learned about them in school, she had never had to give a statement to the council before. 

Her mother had given statements to the council before. Every time something new, or not quite in the law came up in the medical department, Abby had to take it to the council. It didn't happen often, but it happened often enough. It didn’t always mean that her mother had to make a statement, but if she disagreed with something, Abby made it known; and she disagreed with a lot of things that the council did. 

The secretary peeked out of the doors to the chamber and ushered them into the council chamber. Abby walked in first and Clarke followed 

"Have a seat," the secretary said, gesturing to two chairs along one of the tables. They sat down.

"Dr. Griffin," Marcus Kane said to Abby, "we received the notice that you would like to challenge the ruling that the council made about your patient who is pregnant with twins."

“That is correct,” Abby said. “I feel that the ruling is unjust, and that the council did not have the adequate knowledge to make an informed decision.”

“What makes this ruling unjust?” Kane asked.

Abby pulled out her notes.

“There is no way to cause or predict the occurrence of twins,” Abby said, “as well, based off of the patient’s reaction to the news, I can assure you that she would have preferred to have an average, singleton, pregnancy. In addition, the patient is having identical twins, meaning that if we were to terminate one of the fetuses, it would likely terminate the other. The one-child law was made for a reason, to ensure that the Ark’s population does not exceed what the Ark can support again, but our population is declining. We have the capacity to support one more person. Let’s use this opportunity to show that the council can be kind and forgiving, and not punish a family for something that is completely out of their control.”

There was a silence in the council chambers for the moments after Abby’s conclusion. 

Finally, Jaha spoke up. “We will take this into consideration,” he said. “Until we come to a ruling, you may continue to treat the patient as normal.”

Abby pushed out her chair and got up, so Clarke followed suit. That seemed to be their dismissal, so Clarke followed her mother out of the council chambers.

“What now?” Clarke asked once they were safely away.

“Now we wait.”

“There’s nothing else we can do?” Clarke asked.

“If they decide to change the law, we will be consulted, but otherwise we wait for the ruling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There wasn't a ton of Bellarke in this chapter, but I hope you still liked it regardless. I promise that there's a lot of Clarke/Bellamy in the next chapter.
> 
> As always, you can find me on tumblr [here!](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was so nice reading all of the comments on the last chapter. They make me so happy.
> 
> In case you didn't know, Bellarke Fic Writer Awards is going on right now, and this fic is nominated for best Ark AU! There are tons of amazing fics and fic writers in the awards, so you all should go look and vote for your favourites [here!](https://bellarkeficawards.tumblr.com/)

The next Tuesday, Clarke and Bellamy found themselves outside Clarke's childhood unit. Clarke had put on a dress for the occasion. It was nice, but it was more casual than the one she had worn for the wedding. Bellamy, seeing what she was wearing and wanting to impress his in-laws, had run a couple of different outfits past Clarke before settling on what he was wearing. It wasn't as nice as what he had worn for the wedding, as well, but it was much more formal than what Bellamy usually wore. Clarke couldn't say she minded.

Clarke knocked on the door and her father answered. 

"Hi," he said.

"Hi Dad” Clarke reached up to hug him.

"It's nice to see you again Mr. Griffin," Bellamy said when Clarke pulled away.

"You too Bellamy.” He closed the door behind them. "And call me Jake."

Clarke and her dad started down the hallway towards the dining room and Bellamy followed. 

"How've you been?" her dad asked her.

"Good," Clarke said, "I'm sure mom tells you everything that goes on in my life."

"Your mom talks about you," Jake nodded, amused.

Clarke assumed that everything that she told her mom also got to her dad. It had always been like that, even when Clarke was growing up and living with both of them. If she had to tell her parents something, she would tell her mom and her mom would let her dad know.

"Well then, you know everything you need to know about what's going on in my life," Clarke said.

"How are you, Bellamy?" Jake asked as they entered the dining room.

"Good," Bellamy said.

"They haven't been working you guards too hard?" Jake sat down. Clarke walked around the table to sit across from him.

"No," Bellamy said, sitting next to Clarke, "they're pretty reasonable with when I work."

"That's good," Jake said, "I wouldn't want Clarke to be alone all the time."

"We coordinate schedules," Clarke said, "and I'm fine being alone."

"Are you alone often?" Jake asked.

"No," Clarke said, "Bellamy's good at keeping me company." She looked at him and smiled. 

"That's good to hear," Jake said.

The door to the kitchen opened, revealing Clarke's mom holding a large bowl.

"Hello," she said, walking in and setting down the bowl filled with salad.

"Hi Mom," Clarke said.

"Hello Dr. Griffin," Bellamy said, "How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you," Abby said. She turned to Clarke, "Clarke, come help me bring the food in."

Clarke got up and followed her mom into the kitchen. 

"So how are you?" Abby asked.

"I'm good," Clarke almost laughed. "We see each other almost every day."

"That's work," Abby brushed off Clarke's statement, "we're always too busy."

"We still talk," Clarke said. She looked around the kitchen, "what do you need help with?"

"I have a lasagna, but it's not quite done.”

"Okay," Clarke said. "I'm going to ask if Dad and Bellamy need anything to drink."

"Wait," Abby said, "give your father and Bellamy more time together, just the two of them."

Clarke turned to her mom. "Is dad interrogating Bellamy?"

"Interrogating is a strong word," Abby said.

"Mom!" Clarke said.

"We just want to make sure Bellamy's what's best for you," Abby said.

"He's a perfect gentleman," Clarke said, "and I can take care of myself."

When Clarke went back into the dining room a few minutes later with the lasagna, Bellamy didn't seem phased by whatever her father had been talking to him about. 

On the walk back to their apartment, Bellamy slipped his hand into Clarke’s. Even though it wasn’t new, it still made her heart flutter when they shared a casual touch.

"That went better than expected," Clarke said, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Did you expect it to go badly?" Bellamy asked.

"No," Clarke said. "I didn't know what to expect."

"Well, your parents are nice," Bellamy said.

"I'm glad you think that even after my dad interrogated you," Clarke said. She didn’t know why her dad would have agreed to that. It was definitely her mom’s idea, Clarke was sure about that. 

"Your dad interrogated me?" Bellamy asked.

"Yeah, my mom said that's what he was doing when she and I were in the kitchen," Clarke told him.

"He just asked me if I had any girlfriends before you," Bellamy said.

Clarke was curious what his answer was, but was a bit hesitant to ask. She honestly didn’t know. It seemed like something his wife should know, but it also felt like a bit of an invasion of privacy to ask. She brushed off the feeling quickly; she was his wife.

"Did you?"

"I told him no," Bellamy said, "but, I'm not - inexperienced."

"Oh?" Clarke said, waiting to see if he would elaborate.

"I kissed a few girls when I was younger," he continued. He let his hand slip out of Clarke's and shoved it in his pockets. "I'm sure you've heard what the guard is like." He glanced at her.

Clarke nodded. 

"I thought I wasn't going to be matched with anyone, but I stopped as soon I found out about you."

The next few moments of their walk were silent, and Clarke could feel the tension. Bellamy avoided looking at Clarke.

"I don't have a lot of experience," Clarke broke the silence. "I kissed a few boys and a couple of girls but it never went further. Everyone from Alpha gets matched, so I knew I would be too. Surprise, surprise; I got the message a month before I turned 18."

Bellamy didn't say anything, and he continued to avoid Clarke's gaze the entire way back.

"What's wrong?" Clarke finally asked when they were back in their apartment.

Bellamy sighed and walked into the kitchen before turning around.

"You lost your virginity to me?" Bellamy asked.

"Yes," Clarke said, furrowing her brow. "Does that bother you?"

"We- didn't grow up the same," Bellamy said, struggling to get the right words. "You're only 18, so you don't know any better-"

"What does that mean?" Clarke interrupted, anger flaring inside her.

Bellamy opened his mouth and looked around the room for a moment. "I'm not good enough for you," he finally said. "There are guys way better than I am that you should be with, not me." He avoided her gaze again.

"What does this have to do with my virginity?" Clarke asked, stepping closer to him and forcing him to look at her.

"I've had sex with women I barely know," Bellamy said, looking right at her.

"I don't understand," Clarke said.

"Exactly," Bellamy said, "you have no real-life experience."

"Yes I do," Clarke said, "and that's not what I don't understand. I don't get why this makes you not good enough for me? You're the only person I've had sex with, but I'm only eighteen, I never had time to get real-life experience before you. How old were you when you got the message that you'd been matched?"

"Twenty," Bellamy said, looking away.

"If I still didn't have a match, I'd be out there with someone or other.” She gestured to the door behind her.

"You wouldn't be sleeping around," Bellamy said.

"Maybe not but I wouldn't be sitting at home in a flowing white dress braiding my hair!" Clarke fumed. She took a deep breath. "Sex doesn't make you any lesser than me. We've been married for three months; I know you're not a bad person." 

Bellamy looked away. 

"This doesn't change anything," Clarke said. "I still care about you. I still- I still want to be married to you."

Impulsively, she reached up, put her hands on Bellamy's cheeks, and pulled him down to press her lips against his. It ended as quickly as it started, and Bellamy didn't have time to respond.

"I still want that," Clarke said, quieter. She let her hands drop from Bellamy's face before she turned and all but ran out of the kitchen.

Clarke felt like she was on an adrenaline rush, and not in a good way. She had imagined a lot of ways that their first kiss could happen, but in the middle of a fight had not been one of them. 

Clarke locked herself in the bathroom and took a long shower. She felt a little bit bad about all the water she was using, but it would be recycled anyway.

Her mind was reeling from that first kiss. She was starting to regret it. Maybe she shouldn’t have done that. Clarke hadn’t even thought before she had kissed him. She had wanted to prove that she wanted to be with him, but maybe she was being naive like he thought she was. 

That kiss though. It had all happened so fast that Clarke wasn’t even sure that she remembered it. Even so, she wanted to do it again. And again. 

When she got out of the shower, the apartment was silent. Clarke dried off a bit and put her hair up before she went into the bedroom. Bellamy wasn’t there, and the apartment had remained silent. 

After she pulled some clothes on, Clarke peeked out of the bedroom. She didn’t see Bellamy. Walking further out of the bedroom didn’t help; the apartment was empty. 

She grabbed her tablet to see if Bellamy had sent her anything, but there were no new notifications. She glanced around the living room but saw nothing. In the kitchen, however, there was a piece of paper stuck to the fridge with a magnet. Bellamy’s scrawl was on it.

“Out for a walk. Don’t wait up.”

Clarke sighed before turning back to the bedroom. As much as she thought Bellamy would benefit from talking, she  _ was _ tired, and he obviously did not want to see her, so she went to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am only a little bit sorry about this chapter
> 
> As always, you can find me [here!](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com/)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all of your lovely comments!  
> Somehow, this fic made it to the next round of the bellarke fic awards! I assume that some of y'all had something to do about that, so thank you! As well, this round you can also vote for Liz, and the amazing art she made for this fic (if you don't remember it it's in the first chapter). You can vote [here](https://forms.gle/PU5w6jYtQ7zWh8hWA)!
> 
> This is a short chapter, but I hope that the second two-thirds make up for the length ;)

The next morning, Bellamy got up before Clarke. She had been vaguely made aware of him sometime during the night, but she didn’t know when he had gotten back from his walk.

He had already left for work when Clarke went into the kitchen, but he had left her some eggs. She ate a couple, then walked to the med-bay.

“Your dad and I like Bellamy,” Clarke’s mom told her. 

“I’ll let him know,” Clarke smiled sweetly. She went back to working on the task in front of her.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” her mom asked.

“No,” Clarke said, glancing up. She hated the way that her mother could read her.

“Did you expect me to disapprove of Bellamy?”

“I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t like him,” Clarke said. It was the truth. Bellamy was a very likeable person, she just didn’t understand why he didn’t seem to think so.

“Then why are you acting like you’re hiding something?” her mom asked.

“I’m not acting like I’m hiding something,” Clarke said.

“I’m your mother. I know you.” She put her hands on her hips. “Did Bellamy do something to you?”

“No!” Clarke said, “nothing like that. Yes, it’s about Bellamy, but it’s fine, I don’t want to talk about it with you. It’s not a big deal.”

“You know you can tell me anything,” she said.

“You’re my mother,” Clarke told her, “I don’t want you to know every detail of my life.”

“I just worry about you, Clarke.”

“I know,” Clarke said, “but I’m fine, I promise. If it was something that mattered I’d tell you. But it doesn’t; it’s just something dumb.”

“Fine,” Abby said, “but you can still tell me anything.”

“I know.”

When Clarke got home, Bellamy was sitting on the couch watching something on the projector.

“Hi,” Clarke said. She felt like she didn’t know what to say to him. There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn’t know where they stood after their argument. 

“Hey.” Bellamy grabbed the remote and turned off the projector. He got up and walked into the kitchen as Clarke put her bag down on the kitchen counter. “I’m sorry about last night. It’s just, um,” he ran a hand through his hair, “you’re great—amazing, really—and I’ve never thought of myself as that great. Anyways, maybe I don’t deserve you, but I like you, and I like being around you, and I want you.” There was a moment of silence while they shared an electric look, “and I want this,” Bellamy breathed. He surged forward to press his lips against hers.

Clarke instinctively slid her hands up Bellamy's back and tangled her hands in his hair. Everything she had wanted to say was suddenly gone from her mind. She grabbed a fistful of hair and Bellamy made a guttural noise before pulling away.

"You have no idea how much I've thought about doing this," he panted.

"Then don't stop.” Clarke pulled him back towards her until she hit the edge of the counter and Bellamy pushed her up onto it.

Bellamy ran his hands up and down Clarke's sides until they ended up under her shirt. They broke for a moment and Bellamy pulled it over her head, but Clarke pulled him back before he had even tossed it behind himself.

"I think," Clarke said between kisses, moving her hands out of Bellamy's hair and down his back, "that we n-need to even things out." She grabbed the hem of his shirt before pulling it over his head, leaving them both shirtless.

Clarke stared at his naked chest for a moment.

"You can look at me later," Bellamy laughed, pulling Clarke back to him, pressing their bodies together. 

Clarke felt Bellamy's hands tangle in her hair as she ran her nails lightly down his back. She heard him make another noise before his hands slid down her back and his fingers started teasing the waist of her pants. 

She pulled away.

"Is everything okay," Bellamy asked, a look of concern on his face.

"Maybe we should move this somewhere else," Clarke said. "The kitchen isn't exactly where I imagined this going down."

She slid off the counter, grabbed Bellamy's hand and dragged him into their bedroom. Clarke pulled Bellamy to the bed before she went back to close the door. Before she turned back to Bellamy, Clarke took a moment to run her hand through her hair and take a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" Bellamy asked. 

Clarke turned and saw that he had propped himself up on his elbows. He had the same look of concern on his face as before.

"I've just never really done any of this before. I don’t really count our wedding night. I don't want to disappoint." She looked at the ground.

"Trust me, Clarke," Bellamy said, "if you're anything in here like the way you were out there, you're not going to disappoint."

Clarke grinned. "I guess you like a little bit of hair-pulling."

"If I'm making those kinds of noises, you know you're doing the right thing," Bellamy said, "now come back before I have to get up and get you!”

Clarke laughed as she took a step, pushed him further onto the bed and straddled him. As she ran her hands over his chest she felt his hands move up her back and struggle with her bra for a moment before unhooking it so she could let it slide down her arms and throw it off the bed. She pressed her now naked chest against Bellamy.

He leaned his head back and groaned. "You're so great."

"I can tell," Clarke grinned as she ground her hips against his. He let out another groan.

Bellamy captured her lips again before flipping them over so she was lying on the bed. He nibbled at her ear for a moment before trailing kisses down her neck and chest. It was Clarke's turn to writhe and moan. He stopped just below her belly button and looked up at her as he undid the button on her pants and helped her pull everything off, leaving her completely bare. 

After smirking up at her, Bellamy resumed his trail of kisses down Clarke's body. When he arrived at his destination, Clarke squeaked and fisted the sheets.

"Don't stop," she breathed before he could ask if she was okay.

Bellamy started tracing circles with his tongue.

Clarke writhed beneath him, arching her back and moaning.

It only took Bellamy a few minutes to push her over the edge, her hands in his hair and her heels digging into his back. It was the first time that someone else had made her orgasm, and Clarke couldn’t say she minded. She had gotten pretty used to doing the right things to herself, but having someone else push her over the edge was… amazing. 

She used her grip on his hair to gently bring him back up to her.

"Your turn," she breathed before turning them over again. She sat up and undid Bellamy's belt as fast as she could. She undid the rest just as fast before she pushed his pants and underwear down and let him kick them off. She tentatively wrapped her hand around him and slowly pumped up and down.

After a minute, Bellamy interjected. "If you keep that up, this isn't going to last very long."

Clarke stopped stroking him. Staying straddled over him, Clarke leaned to open the bottom drawer of her bedside table and pulled out a condom. They hadn't used one the last time but she wasn't taking that risk again.

After she had put it on Bellamy, Clarke lifted herself up to position herself. As she slowly moved down onto him, Bellamy let out a low noise. 

"Fuck, you feel so good," he moaned as he brought his hands to her hips to help her slide up and down. Clarke anchored her palms on Bellamy's chest and let her nails scratch him lightly as they traced. 

"Fuck," Bellamy groaned after a few minutes, "oh, Clarke, Fuck." He arched into her before collapsing back on the bed.

Clarke rolled off of Bellamy and collapsed on the bed next to him.

After a minute Bellamy pulled the condom off and got up to throw it in the trashcan in the bathroom. Clarke snuggled under the blankets, and when he returned, she lifted them to let Bellamy collapse back into the bed. Clarke cuddled up to his side and he put his arm around her.

They stayed like that, Clarke tracing patterns on Bellamy's chest and Bellamy rubbing his thumb on Clarke's back, until they both fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you guys liked this chapter! I love each and every comment I get!
> 
> As always, I can be found [here](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the nice comments on the last chapter, and for getting this fic into the final round of the Bellarke Fic Writer Awards! I never in a million years thought that this fic would get to the final round. I feel lucky to have even been nominated. You can vote in the awards [here!](https://bellarkeficawards.tumblr.com/post/632359490909536256/final-round-voting-is-open)

What's up with you today, Blake?" Miller asked Bellamy while they were patrolling Factory station.

"What are you talking about?" Bellamy asked.

"You're acting different," Miller said, "you're too... chipper."

"What does that mean?" Bellamy asked.

"Chipper is-"

"I know what chipper means," Bellamy said, "how am I acting chipper?"

"It's something about..." Miller drifted off and gestured vaguely at Bellamy's face.

Bellamy raised his eyebrows.

"You don't look like you want to punch somebody," Miller said.

"I don't want to punch someone," Bellamy said.

"I know, and I know that you usually don't, but you put on a mean face, and you don't have that on right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Bellamy said, even though he did. 

"Is it about Clarke?" Miller asked, his eyes widened, "did you two-"

"Announce it to the whole goddamn Ark, why don't you Miller.”

"It's not that they don't already assume," Miller said. "You two are married, you know."

"People I barely know don't need to know my private life," Bellamy said, shifting his holster, "Especially people who might know my sister, since she lives close to here. That's not something she needs to know anything about."

"How was it?" Miller asked.

Bellamy glared at him.

"I'm just making conversation," Miller said, raising his hands in surrender.

Bellamy sighed. "Before me, Clarke had never... done anything, but I think it was good for her. And it was good for me."

"Just good?" Miller raised his eyebrows.

"It was fantastic, now stop talking about it," Bellamy said.

There was silence for a few moments before Miller spoke up again.

“I think I’m going to ask Bryan to marry me.”

“I thought you already knew you two were getting married.”

“We do,” Miller said, “but I haven’t actually… proposed.”

“I didn’t think people did the whole, ‘get down on one knee and profess their love’ thing anymore.”

Miller shrugged in response. “We want a real wedding, like they used to have on Earth. Not just the legal thing that everyone does these days.”

“You don’t have to propose to be able to throw a party,” Bellamy pointed out.

“Well, I want to,” Miller said.

“Good for you,” Bellamy said, clapping him on the back. “I won’t say congratulations yet, but I’m happy for you.”

* * *

There was pounding on the front door.

Bellamy shot a confused look at Clarke, who was giving him the same look, before he got up from his spot on the couch and opened it. Octavia was standing on the other side, cheeks flushed and panting, but smile wide. A letter was held tightly in her hands.

“I got my match!” She held the letter out to show him. He barely had time to register what she was holding before Octavia ran past him to show Clarke the envelope. Bellamy closed the door and went back to the couch.

“I haven’t opened it yet,” Octavia said as Bellamy sat down.

“Go ahead.” Clarke nodded her encouragement.

Octavia was practically jumping up and down as she tore through the seal on the back and pulled out the page inside. Her eyes fixed on the paper and she stopped jumping, her smile combined with a furrowed brow.

“Well?” Bellamy urged. He was anxious to find out her match, but not for the same reasons as Octavia. Octavia needed to be matched with someone who was good enough for her. Bellamy wasn’t sure that there was anyone on the Ark who was right for her. 

“It’s John Murphy?”

Bellamy’s eyes went wide when he heard the name. John Murphy. The rookie guard. Bellamy liked Murphy well enough; he was good at his job and he could hold a conversation during boring shifts, but was he someone that Bellamy wanted his sister to marry? Absolutely not. 

Bellamy didn’t trust the kid with his little sister. He was a teenage boy, which was enough of a reason for Bellamy. Having been one himself, Bellamy knew that all teenage boys wanted was to get in some girl’s pants. 

Octavia looked at it for another second before turning it and handing it to Bellamy. Other than the names, it was exactly the same as his letter had been.

_ Dear Octavia Blake, _

_ You have been matched with John Murphy. _

_ Our algorithms have determined that you and your match are best suited to each other.  _

_ You will receive the details of your marriage appointment in advance of the appointment date. _

_ All the best, _

_ Kelsey Nelson, Director of Analysis _

“I’m so happy for you!” Clarke, who had been reading over Bellamy’s shoulder, said. She got up and hugged Octavia. 

“Thanks,” Octavia said, distantly.

“You’re happy about this, right?” Clarke asked.

“It’s just-,” Octavia started, “ _ John Murphy? _ ”

“I don’t like-” 

Clarke elbowed Bellamy before he could finish. The look on her face communicated that he needed to stop talking.

“He’s a nice guy,” Clarke said to Octavia. 

“Do you think he knows?” Octavia asked, looking between them. “We get our letters on the same day, right?”

“I think so,” Bellamy shrugged. If he wasn’t allowed to talk about how terrible of a match this was, he might as well be supportive and try to make Clarke and Octavia happy.

“So he might not know?” Octavia’s eyes went wide. “What if he doesn’t?  _ I _ can’t be the one to tell him. But if he does know and I don’t say something he’ll think that I don’t like him.”

“He’ll know,” Clarke reassured.

Bellamy had never been happier to have Clarke around. He didn’t know what he would have said since apparently he only made things worse.

“What do I say to him?” Octavia asked. “We have school tomorrow, I’m going to see him.”

“Hi?” Bellamy said.

“No that’s dumb,” Octavia brushed him off. He loved the kid, but sometimes Octavia’s mind was more foreign to him than Earth.

“Just try to befriend him,” Clarke said. “The romance will come naturally.”

“Romance?” Octavia asked.

“No!” Bellamy said, “no romance.”

“Marriage is supposed to be romantic,” Clarke said to both of them.

“You’re too young for that kind of stuff,” Bellamy said to Octavia. And definitely not with  _ Murphy _ , Bellamy thought but didn’t say. 

“I’m 15,” Octavia said, crossing her arms. 

“Exactly,” Bellamy said, “you don’t know anything about romance.”

“Do too!”

“Enough!” Clarke interjected. “No one is going to win this argument.”

Since Octavia was already over, she stayed for dinner. She spent most of the evening talking about Murphy, and what she should say to him tomorrow, what he probably thought about all of this, and what everyone else would probably think. Bellamy was glad that Clarke was there because he had no idea how to respond to most of the things Octavia said. At least, not in a way that would be helpful.

“I can’t believe that my sister’s matched with  _ Murphy _ ,” Bellamy said to Clarke after Octavia left. He turned on the sink so he could start washing the dishes.

“I can’t say that I wasn’t surprised,” Clarke said. She grabbed a towel.

“There’s no way that this is a good idea,” Bellamy said, grabbing the first dish.

“I thought you liked Murphy,” Clarke said.

“He’s a fine coworker, but not as my sister’s match.” Bellamy handed the now clean dish to Clarke.

“He’s not a bad kid,” Clarke said as she dried. 

“I guess,” Bellamy said, “but he’s…  _ Murphy _ .”

“He’s a bit weird.” Clarke put the dish into the cupboard. “But if the matching system thought that Octavia and Murphy are perfect for each other then I trust it.”

“I guess,” Bellamy grumbled. He scrubbed at the next dish. "Were you like that?"

"Like what?"

"Did you... freak out about me when you found out?" he asked as he handed Clarke the next dish.

Clarke paused for a moment. "Not out loud."

Bellamy smiled at that. 

"It's hard for you to see her growing up," Clarke observed as she dried.

"I guess." Bellamy shrugged. "I knew it would happen. And it's not like she hasn't been obsessing over it for years.He laughed.

"But there's a difference between a little kid dreaming of the future and a young woman getting her match," Clarke pointed out. She stuck the dish into the cupboard.

"Octavia is not a young woman," Bellamy said, rinsing off a plate.

"She's 15,” Clarke said, “only three years younger than I am.”

“Oh my god, you’re so young,” Bellamy said.

“Much too young to be married to an old man like you,” Clarke joked, taking the plate from Bellamy and drying it.

“I’m not that old,” Bellamy said.

“Too old for me,” Clarke teased.

“You take that back!”

“Make me,” Clarke said, with a sly smile. She put the plate into the cupboard.

“Is that a challenge?”

Clarke just grinned.

* * *

It wasn’t until two days later that Bellamy saw Murphy. 

Miller was already there when Bellamy walked into the break room, along with Murphy and a handful of other guards. Normally Murphy would have said hi to him, but not today apparently.

“I’ve never seen Murphy nervous before,” Miller said to Bellamy in a low voice, with a slight chuckle. 

Bellamy had told Miller that his sister was matched with Murphy as soon as he had seen him the next day. Miller had understood Bellamy’s concerns, but he also seemed to be of the same opinion as Clarke, that Bellamy needed to give Murphy a chance.

As Bellamy walked over to his locker, he shot a glance at Murphy and saw that he was sitting at one of the tables staring  _ very _ intensely at his taser. Bellamy had to agree with Miller that it was a little bit funny. Though, Bellamy did feel a little bit of sympathy for him; Murphy had managed to get matched with the one person on the ark who came with an older brother. 

Murphy studied his taser for the whole time Bellamy was at his locker, though Bellamy could see out of the corner of his eye that Murphy kept glancing at him. 

Finally, Bellamy closed his locker and turned to Murphy. Murphy looked up as he walked over.

“I heard that you got matched with my sister,” Bellamy said. When he had told Clarke that Murphy would be on the same shift today, she had given him a long talk about how he was going to make Murphy feel welcomed into the family, and he was not going to do something that would make Octavia’s life harder. 

Bellamy had to admit that Murphy probably wasn’t the  _ worst _ person for Octavia to be matched with; and, as Clarke had pointed out, he couldn’t think of anyone  _ better _ that she could have been matched with. But that was all he was willing to admit.

“Yup.” Murphy nodded. He fidgeted in his chair.

“Congrats, I guess,” Bellamy said, sitting down adjacent to Murphy.

“Thanks.”

“I like you, but you know that if you ever do  _ anything _ to my sister…” He raised his eyebrows. Clarke wouldn’t be happy if she knew he had said that, but Bellamy had to say _ something _ .

“Understood.” Murphy nodded vigorously. 

Bellamy clapped his shoulder and gave him a genuine smile. “Now that that’s over with, congratulations. I mean it.”

“Thank you,” Murphy said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I appreciate any and all comments!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took forever, and I'm sorry.
> 
> Also, a thing that's in the tags happens in this chapter. It's not one of the more intense things, but just a reminder to read the tags.

Clarke was sitting at the front desk of the med-bay, sifting through emails. They got a few every day from people who had little questions about their symptoms, or who were too sick for a regular appointment but not sick enough for it to be an emergency yet.

A new message popped up. It was from the council. 

Clarke quickly opened it and scanned the message until she found what she was looking for. 

_ … we have decided to grant an exception to the one-child law. We have made plans to amend this law in the future to allow for situations such as this one. _

Clarke ran to find her mother.

“We did it!” she said when she found her, “Raven can keep her babies!”

“Did they say anything else?” Abby asked.

“They’re going to amend the law,” Clarke said. “Until then, Raven’s been granted an exception.”

“That’s great news!” Abby said. “When do we see Raven next?”

“Later today I think.”

“She’ll be happy to hear the news,” Abby said.

Both Raven and Wells came to the appointment. They looked beyond nervous. Clarke had told them the council’s original decision, and that she and her mother were going to fight it, but hearing what might happen hadn’t been comforting to them. 

Clarke smiled as they walked up to the desk.

“Did the council get back to you?” Wells asked when he saw her face, hope evident in his voice.

“Let’s go to the back,” Clarke said as she nodded.

She led them to a room and gestured for them to take a seat.

As soon as she closed the door behind them, Clarke spun around and smiled. “They’re granting you an exception!”

“We get to keep both of them?” Raven asked.

“Yes,” Clarke confirmed, “and they’re going to amend the law so that if this ever happens again, it’s not a problem.”

“That’s amazing,” Raven grinned. She turned to Wells. “We get to keep them.” Tears welled in her eyes as she hugged him. 

Clarke felt like she was interrupting a moment, so she excused herself from the room.

Clarke was finishing up Raven’s chart when Jackson poked his head around the corner. 

“Are you free?” he asked.

“Yea,” Clarke said, “I’m on walk-ins for the rest of the day.”

“Could you go down to the school for a check-up?” Jackson asked. “One of the kids is sick.”

“I’ll head over once I’m done with this chart.”

Jackson shot her a thumbs up before disappearing back around the corner. 

Clarke finished the chart and grabbed a med cart before she dropped the chart off at the front desk and started over to the school. 

She pushed her cart through the school door and over to the front desk. The vice-principal was sitting behind the desk. She had been vice-principal for as long as Clarke could remember.

“Hey Mrs. Jacobs,” Clarke said, “someone’s sick?”

“Yes,” Mrs. Jacobs said. “They’re in the second room on the left.”

“Thanks,” Clarke said. She pushed her cart down the hall, stopping at the correct door. She knocked, waited for a second, then pushed the door open.

“Hey Harper,” Clarke said. She knew pretty much everyone on the Ark, but she hadn’t been told who she was checking on. She got the med cart into the room and closed the door behind her. 

“Hi,” Harper said. She brushed some hair out of her face as she kicked her feet nervously. Clarke looked her up and down, but couldn’t see any indication of what was wrong.

“What seems to be the problem?” Clarke asked, grabbing a clipboard with a chart on it.

“I threw up in Math.”

Clarke scribbled that down. “Did you have any symptoms before? Or after?”

“I’ve been super nauseous all morning,” Harper said. “I’m still nauseous now, actually.”

Clarke scribbled that down. “Anything else?”

Harper shook her head.

Clarke set the chart down and opened a couple of drawers on the med cart before she found the right one and pulled out a thermometer. “I want to take your temperature,” Clarke said as she took the cap off. Harper opened her mouth and Clarke stuck the thermometer in her mouth. 

It beeped after a minute, and Clarke pulled it out and read it. “Normal.” She grabbed the chart again.

“Have you had your first period?” Clarke asked.

“Yes.” Harper nodded.

“How old were you?” 

“Fourteen.”

“And when was the last time you got your period?”

There was a pause, and Clarke could see that Harper was thinking.

“Six or seven weeks ago,” she finally said.

“Are you sexually active?” Clarke asked.

Harper turned red.

“This is strictly confidential,” Clarke said, “I can’t tell anyone except the other doctors what you tell me without your explicit consent unless I think you or someone else is at immediate risk.”

Harper hesitated for a second before she replied, “yes.”

“Have you had any other symptoms?” Clarke asked. “Even if they seem unrelated. Have you been more tired than usual? Have you been going to the bathroom more often?”

Harper nodded. “Yes to both of those.”

Clarke paused to consider how to ask her next question. 

“Could you be pregnant?” she asked.

“No, no,” Harper said. “Monty and I-, we’ve always been-, there’s no way…” she trailed off.

“What kind of protection have you been using?” Clarke asked.

“He, um, pulls out, before he…” 

Clarke internally winced. The school was pretty good about sex education. Clarke had even been the one to present on safe sex that year. She had told them about the free condoms the clinic offered, and about the other, more expensive options. But she could only do so much before the decision was out of her hands. 

“I think we should give you a pregnancy test,” Clarke said. “We have to rule it out, or…”

Harper swallowed. “Okay.”

Clarke had never expected to need a pregnancy test when she went to do a check-up at the school, so there wasn’t one on the med cart.

Harper signed herself out at the front desk, then followed Clarke back towards the med-bay.

Clarke glanced over at her as they walked. She looked, well, distraught. Clarke couldn’t blame her. For Harper’s sake, Clarke hoped that she wasn’t pregnant, but it was the most obvious answer as to why Harper was sick. Getting pregnant before marriage was uncommon, let alone while still in school. Clarke was sure it must have happened before, but it had been before she had been old enough to pay attention to it. Very few people had sex before they were matched, and because matched marriages happened once both parties were 18, there wasn’t much time for them to accidentally create a life. Hopefully, as well, the students were actually using the information that they were taught.

When they got to the med-bay, Clarke parked the cart behind the front desk and led Harper to an empty exam room. 

“I’ll grab the test and be right back,” Clarke said.

Harper didn’t respond, and Clarke left, closing the door behind herself.

She ran into her mom on the way to grab the pregnancy test.

“How was the student at the school?” her mom asked.

“I actually brought her here,” Clarke said.

“Is it serious?” her mom asked.

“I’m… not sure,” Clarke said. She knew that her mother was concerned about a potential epidemic, which this probably wasn’t. If Harper was pregnant, it was serious, just in a different way. She didn’t want to put her mom in high alert unless she was right. “I’ll debrief you after.”

“Okay,” her mom said.

Clarke hurried to grab the test and bring it back to the exam room.

A couple of minutes later, Harper and Clarke were sitting in the exam room, waiting for the pregnancy test to show if Harper was pregnant or not. 

The timer went off, and Harper’s eyes shot up to look at Clarke. Clarke held her gaze for a moment before picking up the test from the counter and looking at the word displayed in the window.

Pregnant.

The results must have been written on her face, because when she looked up at Harper, Harper burst into tears.

Clarke stood up and wrapped her arms around Harper.

“What am I going to do?” Harper sobbed into Clarke’s shoulder. “I’m 15,” she said, “Monty’s 16.” 

Clarke rubbed her back.

“What are my parents going to think?” Harper cried.

“It’s going to be okay,” Clarke said, “we’re here to figure this out.”

Harper cried for a few more minutes before she calmed down.

Once Clarke was sure that Harper was okay, she pulled away, “I’m going to go get Dr. Griffin. I don’t know enough to help you, but she can.”

Harper nodded wordlessly.

Clarke stepped out of the room to look for her mom, who she found in the lab, studying a blood sample.

“I need you,” Clarke said.

She explained the situation on the way over.

Her mother sighed. “What’s with all these pregnancies?”

Clarke didn’t have time to respond before her mom schooled her expression, and knocked on Harper’s exam room door.

“Hello Harper,” Abby said, walking into the room. 

Clarke followed her and closed the door behind her. Harper had stopped crying, but her tear stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes made it obvious what she had been doing.

“Dr. Blake updated me about what’s going on,” her mom said, pulling up the rolling stool and sitting down. She grabbed the pregnancy test and Harper’s chart. “Looks like you are pregnant. I’m going to do a blood test on you, just to confirm. These things aren’t often wrong though.” She scribbled something on a piece of paper. “We’ll take your blood after, I want to talk about your options first.”

“Okay,” Harper said quietly.

“Have you been matched?” Her mom asked.

Harper nodded.

“Are you matched with the father?” 

Harper nodded again.

Abby scribbled something down. “That makes this much easier,” she said. “In the past, unwed pregnancies with mothers who haven’t been matched, or who are pregnant with someone who isn’t their match, don’t have positive outcomes. Since you are matched, though, it is more likely that the council will let you keep the pregnancy. If you keep it, it will be your one pregnancy. On the other hand, if you want to terminate the pregnancy, the council most likely will not pay for it, and you will have to pay with your own credits.”

That wasn’t fair, Clarke thought. If Harper wanted to keep the baby and she was denied, she wouldn’t have to pay, but if she didn’t want the baby she would?

“You don’t have to decide now,” Abby said. “I do need a decision soon, though. In the next few days. I’m mandated to tell the council within a week.”

Harper nodded.

“We are here to talk about it,” Abby said, “if you need. Anytime.”

“Thank you,” Harper said.

Abby stood up. “Would you like us to call anyone?” she asked. “Your parents?”

Harper shook her head vigorously.

“Alright,” Abby said. “I’ll leave you here with Dr. Blake.”

Clarke’s mom left, and Clarke grabbed the materials needed so she could take a blood sample from Harper.

“I don’t know what to think,” Harper said. She stared at the wall, as if trying to process the information.

“It’s big news.” Clarke nodded her agreement.

Harper squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

“I need to talk to Monty.”

Clarke checked her watch. “School is almost out, so you can tell him to come meet you here?”

“I’ll do that,” Harper nodded. “Can you stay when I tell him?”

Clarke nodded. She wasn’t sure what the best thing to say to Harper would be, but she could help by staying by her side.

So that’s what she did. Clarke stayed as Harper broke the news to Monty. Seeing them, just two kids, having to come to terms with the reality of their situation broke Clarke’s heart. They were both good kids, and Clarke could only hope that things would work out for the best for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that I'm accepting prompts for [t100fic-for-blm](https://t100fic-for-blm.tumblr.com) if you'd like to prompt me. I write fics as well as make gifsets and moodboards.
> 
> As always, you can find me [here](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com) :)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! I'd love to hear what you think :)  
> [come visit me on tumblr!](https://ruggedmurphy.tumblr.com/)


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